Plum Puddings Dissected

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 303, 23 December 1939, Page 5 (Supplement)

Plum Puddings Dissected

rE Christmas pudding has been dissected in order to determine whether it can be regarded as satisfactory, according to the physiological rules of the dietetic expert. "Carbohydrate,*' the main supply of fuel to the muscles, is represented by the bread crumbs, flour, sugar and the fruit. "Fat," the source of heat, is obtained from the suet, eggs, and milk, and is especially valuable in virtue of its essentially animal rather than vegetable brigin. "Protein," the nitrogenous element of food and the repairer of wear and tear, is relatively low in quantity, but the use of milk supplies a certain amount of '"firstclass" protein, .while the vegetable elements present in the shape of flour, bread, fruit, etc., add to the total amount. Ale Recipes In recipes where the main liquid added for mixing purposes is old ale instead of milk, "first-class" protein will be largely absent! Mineral material is well represented by the use of salt, cuts, peel and spices, while all the vitamins appear to be supplied in a greater or less extent in the mixing, whatever subsequent cooking may do. Eggs, milk and suet will supply "A" and "D" vitamins, while the fruit used adds a good supply of "C," some of which in the interior of the pudding will probably survive even the prolonged boiling. Vitamin "B" does not seem to be at all abundant in many recipes. The general balance of the various food elements, a matter of great importance when a whole day's rations are being coniidered, will depend essentially, in the case of the plum pudding, upon the rccipe favoured. Prodigality with eggs after the traditional manner of the great cooking consultants is often balanced by ft parsiraonv with the suet. Within fairly wide limits, however, whatever the quantities employed, the average Christmas pudding must be accounted a good physiological dish. For any pudding this will obviously depend upon the bulls consumed, but the concentration of energy value of the plum puddin« is comparatively high, so that in the popular phrase it is "rich"—that is, in this instance, rich in calories.